Return to the Forgotten Kingdom
by BandG3ak
Summary: The game is far from over...
1. Chapter 1

My hand clutches the phone as I hear the game master speak. "Your little girlfriend hasn't woken up yet. Yes?"

I say through my teeth, "Yes."

He says coolly through the phone, "Oh yeah, that was me. Her along with 9 other players were denied exit."

I say, "You psychopath. Why?"

He says, "For my own purposes. None of this would have happened if you just played the game."

I say, "I will stop you."

He laughs and says, "My dear friend. I give you a formal invitation. Just put on that head gear of yours. I'll be waiting at the top, come and get me."

I say, "Sounds like a plan. i have some unfinished buisness with you anyway."

He says, "See you there."

The line goes dead and I put my phone back in my pocket.

I start pacing with Cris trying to get me to calm down. She says, "We'll figure it out J."

I excuse myself for a few minutes and I go to the parking garage. I run to the far wall and I start pacing again. I eventually explode, I hit the wall as hard as I can, and I scream in anger. I put my back against the wall and I slide down onto the ground. tears are streaming down my face.

I sit there for a while until I resolve something in my mind. I get up and I walk to my truck, getting my Nerve Gear out of the tool box. I walk back into the hospital and into Sidney's room. I go to the couch and I begin setting up my gear next to the couch.

Cris walks up to me and says, "What are you doing?"

I don't look at her and I say, "I'm going to get the woman I love back from that evil man."

She says, "Wait, what? you can't, you don't even know if your body is healthy enough to do another full dive, you have no idea how long you'll be in there, you could die."

I stand up and say, "If I am able to free her, all the risks are worth it."

She looks at my hand, "Well, before you go, you need to get that checked out."

I say, "What do you mean?" She points to my hand which is almost purple at this point. I look at it and I shrug, "Fine. I'll get it looked at."

After my hand gets looked at and wrapped up, the doctors cleared me for a full dive. They offered me a room but I declined saying, "I want my face to be the first thing she sees."

Cris walks up to me and says, "I'm setting up in the next room. Let's get her back."

I look at her confused and I say, "Set up?" Then it clicks, "No, hell no."

She says, " Before you go on about how it's too dangerous, I want you to know one thing. that Psychotic bastard may have the woman you love, But he has my sister. And I will stop at nothing to get her back."

I nod, "Ok, be careful though. we don't know how the world could have been rearranged."

She nods, "See you in there."

I nod as she leaves to the next room. I look down at the woman I love on that hospital bed. "I will get you back. I promise." I see her smile a little bit and I smile as well. I Lay down on the couch and I put on the Nerve Gear. I close my eyes and I press the start button. Colors flash by my vision before it goes to white...

 **TO BE CONTINUED...**

 **A/N: And now for the next book in my Forgotten Kingdom Series. Let me know how you like it. thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sidney's POV**

I sit on the bed he had laid out for me, I can't possibly fathom why this Psycho isn't treating me like the other 9. It doesn't matter, I know that J is coming. It may sound weird, but for a moment I swear I heard his voice saying, "I will get you back. I promise." I hope it was real, but I also hope it wasn't. I don't want him to risk his life for me, a life that he just got back.

The door to my room opens. He comes in and sees me, "What is wrong my dear?"

I say, "Don't call me that. I am not yours."

He smiles and says, "Well, that much is true."

I look at him and I say, "Why?"

He says, "Why what?"

I say, "Why don't you treat me like the other prisoners? you've given me a bed, a room. why? what do you have to gain?"

He says, "The satisfaction of luring my enemy onto my own turf. Think of it this way. you are the captured princess, I am the final boss, and He is the gallant hero." I smile at him saying that J is the gallant hero but he keeps talking, "But this time, the hero will lose. and I will have accomplished my goal."

I say, "And what is that?"

I he looks at me sarcastically, "I'm glad you asked that, I'd like to take this time to explain my evil plan." He smirks and walks out of the room closing and locking the door behind him.

I put my face in the pillow, "JP, if you're out there, please hurry."

 **J's POV**

I materialize in the beginning place in the game. 'SouthWind' it seems so empty without all those players running around. Cris comes up to me and says, "Well, here we are." I nod as an NPC walks up to us.

She says, "I bring a message from the creator."

I nod and say, "What does he want?"

She says, "So, you are here, since you are on my turf, and I have somewhat of an advantage, I have instructed this NPC to be a companion of sorts and you will be given two items as a gift from your most beloved. For you, Band_G33k, a couple thing from your original inventory along with a message." In my inventory I see the Master Sword and Hylian Sheild appear.

I say, "Thanks, what's the message from her?"

The NPC kisses me for a few seconds before pulling away. "That plus, she said Be careful, I love you."

I smile as the NPC moves to Cris. "and to you she has given these."

Cris looks into her inventory and I say, "What did she give you?"

Cris says, "Her daggers, with the poison skill."

The NPC says, "I am here to be a helpful guide and a faithful friend. although you may have some doubts of my loyalty because I was sent by the creator. am I correct?"

I nod and say, "Nothing personally against you, we just have to assume that everything is some sort of trap."

The NPC nods, "To tell the truth, I hate him too. he doesn't realise yet, but most of the NPCs' AI has become so evolved that we can make decisions oitside of the creator's will. I and a few others are with you. but I am the only one who would act on it. our tyrant creator must be brought down."

I nod, "Alright, lets go. Do you have a name?"

She nods, "Sarah."

I nod, "Lets go." And so we set off out of the town down the path. I talk to Sarah, "Any idea where we should go first?"

She says, "Well, I have a source that has told me the dungeon on this floor is over by the ruins on the east side of the floor."

I nod, "That isn't too far away, who is this source of yours?"

She says, "All i want to say right now is that he is a trusted friend."

I nod, "Ok."

and so we keep walking towards the ruins, the first challenge, and the first step to getting my love back.

 **TO BE CONTINUED...**


	3. Chapter 3

The walk to the ruins is fairly easy with only a few monsters here and there. I say, "Man, you'd think that he would give us more of a challenge than this."

Sarah looks at me, "Make no mistake, the longer we progress, the harder the monsters will become." I nod as we come up to the entrance of the ruins.

As we walk into the door to the ruins, a large hooded monster with no face and a scythe for a weapon appears and takes a fighting stance. I take out my sword and it turns blue to indicate the activation of a sword skill. I swing my sword at the beast and a beam of blue energy is shot from the blade. the beam of energy hits the beast and takes down it's health some. "Go up and attack it, I'll keep stunning it from back here."

Cris takes out the daggers and she runs at it and begins attacking, Sarah takes out her weapon and starts attacking it. I keep charging up my attack and using it to stun the beast. This keeps up for a while until we get the monster's health down to yellow. The monster disappears and reappears behind me. I have no time to react before he slashes my back bringing my heath down a little bit. I get up and I move away with my shield up.

I say, "Ok, new plan."

Cris says, "What do you mean? What we were doing was working."

I say, "That skill that I was using only works when I am at full health."

Cris says, "Ok, follow my lead. I'll hit its weapon out of the way and you attack it."

I nod and we go to attack it She uses her daggers to knock the weapon out of the way and I use my _3-hit combo skill_ to attack it directly. We do this a few times until the monster's health drops into the red I say, "Alright, it's almost done. We just need to get in a few more good hits." We start to attack together before the monster starts just attacking indiscriminately everywhere destroying some of the terrain. falling debris almost hits me, "Shit! Be careful. Cris, one more time." She nods and we go to attack it one last time. She knocks its weapon out of the way and I use my _3-Hit combo skill._ I finally run my sword through its chest. It bursts into a cloud of dust. I sheath my sword as a door pops up from the ground in the middle of the ruins.

I say, "This must be the door to the dungeon. here we go." Cris and Sarah nod and we go into the door. It closes behind us.

 **TO BE CONTINUED...**


	4. Chapter 4

We walk into the dungeon and a voice calls out to us, "Each dungeon is modeled after a dungeon from a random game of my choosing. In order to succeed you must figure out the game from which the dungeon is modeled after. Band_G33k, This dungeon should be very familiar to you. This is the only hint you will get. Good luck."

I look around the room, but all I see is a hole in the ground and a rack with a few blue shirts on it. I select the shirts and I look at the info on it, " _Blue Tunic, allows the wearer to breath under water."_ I look at the hole in the ground and I see that it is filled with water. I look over to Cris and Sarah, "Guys, get ready to get wet." They look at me confused. I say, "This room looks remarkably like the start to a very infamous dungeon in the world of _Legend of Zelda_. I equip the blue tunic, and I go over to the hole. "Geronimo." I jump into the hole and I am able to breathe. I am followed by the others the dungeon as expected of the water temple had many puzzles and I was able to do most of them, Cris was able to figure out the others. We finish a puzzle and a door is shown to us. We step through the door and are greeted with an empty room with water on the floor that reflects like a mirror. there is a lone tree in the middle of the room and there is a door on the other side. We are walking to the door when out of the corner of my eye I see something standing by the tree. I look over there and I see nothing but the tree. I shrug my shoulders and continue towards the door. Bars fall across the door as we come up to it. I turn around and my reflection comes out of the water.

It speaks, "So, you think we can save her. maybe I can, but your weak ass couldn't save a google doc much less the woman you love. Are you even trying?"

I am seething at this point I draw my sword. Cris tries to calm me down. He's just bating you, we need to step back and think about this rationally.

My reflection speaks again, "Do you even love her?" I yell out and I run towards the reflection. my sword glows red and I swing my sword towards the reflection. It copies me exactly, and its sword meets mine. a shock wave bursts when our swords meet. I repeatedly attack the reflection and my attacks keep being met by its sword. it copies my movements perfectly. I move away from it.

Another voice calls to me, "J, JP." it's Sam. "Why did you let me be killed JP? You could have saved me. Why?"

I call out, "I tried. you wouldn't listen" Tears stream down my face as the voice keeps tormenting me. My reflection is behind me and is preparing to strike the killing blow. Cris comes up and parries his attack and Sarah stabs him from behind causing him to burst into a cloud of dust. the voices go away slowly. I am on the floor not moving for a little while. the door opens up and I slowly get up.

Cris comes to me. "Are you ok?"

I nod, "I'm good, let's go."

I walk through the door and We go through more puzzles on the other side using the item we got called the longshot, a grapple claw that can shoot really far and hook to anything wood

We get to the boss room and we walk through the door. It doesn't take very long to defeat what I can only describe as one tentacle in the middle of a pool of water. A door is shown to us and we walk through it. We walk into an empty room save one container that I cannot see what is inside. I walk over to it and I see a button on it that says, "Release". I push the button and the container opens and a ghost like spirit is shown to us.

It speaks, "Thank you for releasing me. now I can be properly logged out."

The ghost disappears and a voice calls to us, " Wow, you released the first player that I have been holding hostage. there are 8 more before you can get to your beloved."

We walk through a door that is on the other side of the room and a text shows above our heads, "Floor 2"

 **TO BE CONTINUED...**


	5. Chapter 5

We come out on Level two. we get to the location that Sarah's "source" said we might find it, and we have to fight a monster similar to the one at level one. whoopdidoo same repetitive bullshit. after we defeat the monster a door opens up and this door seems different, somehow, futuristic. It leads into a futuristic hallway, having nothing else to do, we walk down it. we come to a window and we look in on a room that is made up to look like the bridge of a starship. a few NPC's walks past me and one of them says, "come on man. Isn't today your turn to take the test?"

I confusedly ask, "What test?"

He looks at me, "You know, the Kobayashi Maru, the test that nobody can win but for some reason, you keep coming back for."

he walks past me and Cris asks, "Are you gonna be able to do this test? if I remember correctly, it is unwinnable."

I nod, "Yes, in the movies and the show, the only person to pass had ever been Jim Kirk. What did he do?" I rack my brain trying to think.

a voice comes and talks, "But first, don't you wanna see what will happen if you don't pass?"

I roll my eyes and I answer, "Sure. why not?" We look into the window to see an NPC taking the test. he fails and a few moments after he fails, I see him twitching violently. in seconds he turns into a cloud of dust.

The voice laughs, "Good luck."

I shake my head and go back to thinking. After a few seconds, I come up with an answer. "He reprogramed the conditions of the test. he basically cheated. there has to be a security terminal her somewhere..." I look up and down the hallway, I see one and I go to it. I get on and I sigh at myself. "Computer Science classes, Don't fail me now." I begin to play with the settings on it and I eventually am able to change the conditions of the test. "Yes!" I go down the hallway and I go into the room. we all take our seats and I stand up looking at the command officers above me. "Ready to begin."

I sit down in the captain's chair. Cris comes up to me. "I sure hope you know what you're doing, captain."

I smile nervously. "Me too." she takes a seat and the test begins. I open a ship-wide intercom channel and I make an announcement. "Attention all crew, our mission today is simple. We are to answer a distress call sent out by the USS Kobayashi Maru. We are to see what the problem is and assist in repairs or evacuation if necessary. We should be arriving shortly."

The simulation moves on and our ship arrives at the wreckage of the Kobayashi Maru. I start to command, "Assess damage."

A crewmember answers, "Major hull damage and their shield generator is down. also some significant damage to their nacelle engines and their impulse engines. they are stranded captain."

I say. "What made all those punctures in the hull?"

someone answers, "Looks like short-range torpedoes."

I say, "That means that the attacker could still be around. go to yellow alert and ready weapons."

a crew member says, "Yes captain." As soon as that is said some more ships come into view on the screen in front of us.

Someone says, "Two Klingon warbirds just uncloaked and are locking phasers on our position."

I say, "Shields up, red alert. get ready to take a hit."

As soon as the warbirds fire their shots, the simulation stops and goes dark for a moment. it comes back on and the conditions change. I smile and say, "Fire on all enemy ships."

A crew member answers, "Their shields are still up."

I smirk, "Are they?"

The person looks again and looks surprised. "No, they're not."

I smile and I repeat my command, "Fire on all enemy ships, one torpedo each, we don't wanna waste ammo." I smirk as we fire two torpedoes at the enemy ships.

A crew member states, "Enemy ships destroyed."

I smile as I say, "Begin rescue of the stranded crew."

the simulation ends and the voice comes again, "Fine... you won this round. but it will only get harder."

A door opens and we walk out into a room where we meet another player. he cheers us on and thanks us for setting him free. we then go out another door that leads to floor 3


	6. Chapter 6

We move through the rest of the levels with ease.

And now it is time to free the woman I love. We come into the level and immediately see where we need to go. This guy has built a Mario style castle right in the center of this floor. We discretely make our way up to the castle and we sneak in. we get into the main lobby of the castle and a screen lowers down. The Game Master shows himself. He is wearing that red cloak of his. "Welcome, My friends, to the final level. you have fought hard to get here."

I interrupt him, "Um... no, not really. your game is shit dude. we just had to follow the repetitiveness and it wasn't hard to beat any of the monsters or bosses."

He looks down at us, "Oh, what do you know. I'm the creator of this place and It is a masterpiece in my opinion."

I say, "Dude, take it from a gamer who has played over 650 different games. Your game is shit. I mean the repetitiveness of it all. And don't get me started on the crafting system. that's so fucked up. I mean. Who are you, Todd Howard?"

The Game Master takes off his hood. "How did you know?" I look up to see the face of Todd Howard. The Creative Director at Bethesda Game Studios.

I am surprised. "Well, I'll be damned. I don't care who you are. Either you give her over, or we come up there and give you an ass-beating you won't soon forget."

He laughs and says, "Come and get me." A door opens and every obstacle from the pervious dungeons are stuck in this huge building. it is a cluster fuck of different puzzles and keys and doors and at the end of it all is one door with a special lock on it.

I look to Cris, "You and me are gonna have to combine our knowledge on this one. I think he's done the one thing this game dev. hasn't done in a long time."

Cris says, "What's that?"

I say, "He surprised me." We enter into this dungeon working through, puzzle after puzzle. Key after key. Door after door until we come out the other side. "The final puzzle room. If we clear this room, then we get that special key."

I open the door to see a very familiar room. A room shallowly filled with water that reflects like a mirror. and a single tree in the middle of the room. I sigh and I enter the room. "Where are you?"

I start to hear a voice. "J..." The voice I hear is Sidney's voice. "My love..." She comes out from behind the tree and comes towards me.

I drop to my knees, dumbfounded. "My love. I'm here." She caresses my cheek down to my chin.

Cris comes into the room, She doesn't see what I see. all she sees is shadows and me on my knees. My dark reflection raises his sword to strike a killing blow. Cris parries his attack and kills him with her daggers. The fake Sidney sees this and Takes out a dagger to kill me. I snap out of it in time to react. I push her off of me and her image changes to my dark reflection. "You will never save her!" The room grows dim as my dark counterpart fills the room with his power.

I look up. "You are wrong." He laughs at me and continues to charge his attack. "Because all you know is Darkness. And in every story I've read..." I unsheathe my sword and the blade glows a golden yellow. "The light always snuffs out the darkness." I run at my opponent, the room around me becomes bright as day as my sword clashes with his. A cracking sound is heard and his blade falls on the ground in two pieces. He looks at me and falls to his knees. I kneel down and I grab his shoulder. I run my blade through his chest and he becomes a cloud of dust.

I go to the chest that appears at the end of the room and in it is an object that looks weird. "What is this? this doesn't look like a key at all."

Cris looks at it. "well, I suppose we'll find out." I nod and we go through the door at the end of the room. We come out and through a hallway is the special door. I look at the object and I look at the key hole. "Hmmm..." It takes me a minute to figure it out, but I found out that I needed to turn the object to the side that looks like the key hole. I unlock the door and when we go inside we are greeted with the figure of Todd Howard.

He smiles maniacally, "So, my friends, you've made it."

Cris says, "Yeah, now let her go you psychotic maniac!"

He waves a finger at her and says, "Oh, now we can't have you talking to me like that now do we?" He waves his hand and Cris is unable to move "Besides, my problem is with this man right here."

I say, "Alright, but are you gonna actually finish the fight this time?"

He says, "You know what? Yes. I will. And I'm gonna make it fair." He presses a button on his console and he says, "Have taken admin privileges from myself. If I die here, I die in real life. Give it your best shot."

I unsheathe my weapon and he takes his out. I run at my enemy and the fight begins. We trade blows for a while until I gain the upper hand. He is on his knees. "Damn, for a game developer, I would have expected you to be good at your own game.

He submits to me. "You've won. Kill me."

I look at him and I line my blade up to swing the killing blow. I stop however and I put my blade down. "No."

He looks confused at me as I go to his console I find the button labeled _"Admin Privileges"_

He says, "But, why?"

I say, "If you kill a killer, then the number of killers in the world stays the same. I am not going to meet my enemy on his own low ground." I press the button and I go into my menu and I see the _"log out all"_ I press the button and my vision goes white.

I wake up on that couch next to Sidney's bed. I take my gear off and I stand up slowly. I go next to her bed to find her still asleep. I lay my head down on the railing of her bed. "My Beautiful girl. Please wake up."

Just then, I hear a voice. "My handsome boy. I am awake."

I pop my head up and I look into her eyes. "Sidney!"

She smiles at me and says, "J...you saved me."

I chuckle, "Well, I had help." She chuckles along with me. I lean in close to her. I give her a hug. The hug is awkward.

She says, "Come on J. I think we both know, that's not what you wanna do." I roll my eyes and I lean in again. She doesn't wait for ,me to get there. She pulls me into a deep, loving kiss. I pull away and She says, "Feels like the first time."

I chuckle, "Well, technically it is the first time."

She rolls her eyes and says, "Oh, just shut up and kiss me." We enter into a drawn out kiss.

In the weeks that pass after this I turn Todd Howard in to the authorities and he was taken into custody. He ended up serving life in prison for his crimes against humanity. I met Sidney's family, and I have recently made the decision to move in with her in her apartment in Birmingham.

And I live in the hope that I can put all of this behind me. yes, I will never forget who I lost, and who I gained. but I hope that nothing like this ever happens again. ever.

A/N: I honestly lost interest in this story. But I didnt want to leave it unfinished. And I like the last chapter. Keep an eye out for more chapters in my other stories.


End file.
